HC Deb 08 July 1975 vol 895 cc329-30
Q2. Mr. Skinner

asked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his most recent meeting with the TUC.

Mr. Edward Short

I have been asked to reply.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply which my right hon. Friend gave him on 26th June.

Mr. Skinner

At the recent meetings with the TUC, did the Government spokesmen react to submissions made by the TUC on rent control, food price control, the question of import surcharges and also action on foreign exchanges in respect of capital movements? Does my right hon. Friend appreciate that there are many in the Parliamentary Labour Party who to some extent are responding to the mood of the Labour Party outside in the country and who will in no circumstances repeat the ill-fated exercise undertaken in 1966–70 and march through the Lobby to endorse interference with free collective bargaining, which we received a mandate to uphold in the last two elections?

Mr. Short

The Government will take account of any point put to them by the TUC—indeed we always do so—and we shall discuss such matters at length with the TUC. I hope that my hon. Friend will wait for the White Paper which will be published within a few days. He will then see to what extent we have been able to reach agreement with both sides of industry.

Mr. Crawford

Will the Lord President inform the Prime Minister that the people of Scotland are not prepared to accept a statutory wage policy, because we believe that the gap between the average wage in Scotland compared with England must be closed? Is he aware of the recent statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer that we need more restraint, and will this not give added impetus to the self-government movement in Scoland? We in Scotland have suffered far too long from low wages.

Mr. Short

I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will take account of what the hon. Gentleman says.

Mrs. Thatcher

Since we in Parliament find it difficult to get any information about what is happening other than what we read in the Press, will the right hon. Gentleman confirm that every commitment in the statement by the Chancellor last Tuesday still stands, particularly that which relates to a 10 per cent. pay increase limit and also cash limits as a means of controlling public expenditure? Will the right hon. Gentleman please say when we may expect the White Paper on this subject?

Mr. Short

I cannot give the House the publication date of the White Paper, but we hope that it will be published within a few days. I can confirm that both the 10 per cent. limit and the cash limit proposals remain. It is a pity that the Conservative Government did not impose cash limits when they were in office.

Mr. Adley

It has taken Labour 16 months to do it.

Mr. Edwin Wainwright

Will my right hon. Friend stress to the Prime Minister as well as to the Cabinet, the NEDC and the TUC that, unless some better understanding is forthcoming to make sure that the country becomes more viable and productive, the only solution will probably be to see to it that we do not bring back to power the unworthwhile people in the Conservative Party who have failed the nation so often in the past?

Mr. Short

Everybody must agree with my hon. Friend that in the last resort we shall solve our problems only by cooperation between the two sides of industry and also the Government.